The best credit building apps are excellent ways to improve your credit, but they are far from the only ones. Consider the best credit building apps in other ways, in addition to using these apps: Paying off any past-due balances as soon as possible.
Increasing your credit score takes time because you are establishing a track record of timely payments. Best credit building apps like Self, Kikoff, MoneyLion, and Grow Credit can help you improve your credit score over time.
Credit-builder loans can be a good option for people who have a few hundred dollars to spare and are willing to part with it temporarily in order to improve their credit.
Though you won’t get your money back in full because you’ll have to pay interest, the improvement in your credit is more valuable. The most powerful steps you can take to improve your credit are to pay your bills on time and to pay off your credit card balances.
Payment behavior is reported to credit bureaus by issuers every 30 days, so positive steps can help your credit quickly. It is possible to live with bad credit, but it is not always easy and certainly not cheap.
Having a good credit score will allow you to save money and simplify your financial life. The interest rate is one of the costs of borrowing money, and the interest rate you receive is frequently directly related to your credit score.
You’ll almost always qualify for the best interest rates and pay lower finance charges on credit card balances and loans if you have a good credit score.
The less interest you pay, the sooner you’ll pay off the debt and have more money for other expenses. Your borrowing capacity is determined by your income and credit score.
A good credit score gives you bargaining power when it comes to negotiating a lower interest rate on a credit card or a new loan. If you need more negotiating power, you can take advantage of other companies’ attractive offers based on your credit score.
If you have a low credit score, creditors are unlikely to negotiate loan terms, and you will have no other credit offers or options. Your borrowing capacity is determined by your income and credit score.
One advantage of having a good credit score is that banks are willing to let you borrow more money because you’ve proven that you repay what you borrow on time.
When it comes to negotiating a lower interest rate on a credit card or a new loan, a good credit score gives you negotiating power. If you need more negotiating power, you can take advantage of attractive offers from other companies based on your credit score.
Creditors are unlikely to negotiate loan terms if you have a low credit score, and you will have no other credit offers or options. Your income and credit score determine your borrowing capacity.
A good credit score has the advantage of allowing you to borrow more money because you’ve demonstrated that you repay what you borrow on time.
Maintaining a good credit score necessitates concentration, determination, and hard work. We must pay our bills on time, reduce debt, and maintain a low debt-to-credit ratio, among other things, in order to maintain a high credit score.
We could use all the assistance we can get. To that end, here are the 13 best credit-building apps that can help you stay on track with your credit building.
Credit reports and credit scores are indicators that allow a financial institution to assess your ability to repay the debt on time. The credit score is thus crucial in determining the risk of an individual or an asset.
“If you have a high credit score, you will most likely qualify for the lowest interest rates and fees on new loans and lines of credit,” McClary says.
If you apply for a mortgage, you could save up to 1% in interest. Lenders use your credit score to determine your ability to repay loans. A credit score is a numerical three-digit summary of your entire credit history.
It is created using data gathered from lenders and is compiled. Lenders may use information from your credit report to determine whether you qualify for a loan and the terms of the loan (for example, the interest rate they will charge you).
Insurance companies may use the information to determine whether you are eligible for coverage and to set your premiums. A perfect credit score of 850 is difficult to obtain, but an excellent credit score is more doable.
Excellent credit can help you qualify for the best credit cards, mortgages, and competitive loan rates, which can save you money over time. The highest credit score you can have is “Excellent.”
Contents
How to Get a Credit Score of 800?
- Always pay your bills on time.
- Paying your bills on time is probably the best way to demonstrate to lenders that you’re a responsible borrower.
- Maintain a low credit card balance.
- Keep an eye on your credit history.
- Enhance Your Credit Mix.
- Examine Your Credit Reports according to Experian, 1.2% of all credit-holding Americans have a credit score of 850.
Top 13 Credit Building Apps to Increase Score (2024 List)
#1. Self
With a credit builder loan and credit card, Self, also known as Self Lender, makes it simple to improve your credit score. Its flagship product, the Credit Builder Account, allows you to get a credit-building loan in the form of a certificate of deposit (CD) that matures after your payments are completed.
A credit-building credit card is also available from the company. These items are available in conjunction with robust mobile and online account management capabilities.
There is no application required to join Self, but you must apply for a Credit Builder Account. You will specify which of Self’s four account options you desire during this application process: $25 monthly payments over a 24-month period for a total payoff of $520.
If you are approved for a Credit Builder Account, you will be charged a one-time administrative fee of $9. Concurrently, your Self’s banking partner will deposit the loan monies into your CD account.
Your payments will begin the next month and will be equal for the duration of the loan. If you miss a payment, you get a 15-day grace period before being charged a late fee of 5% of the payment amount.
Overall, Self offers folks with poor credit a fantastic opportunity to improve their credit score and behaviors. The opportunity to start a credit-building account with no upfront cash is also a very appealing perk.
#2. CreditStrong
A 5-star rated independent community bank with FDIC insurance houses a division called Credit Strong. Instead of paying significant upfront payments for credit builder loans or purchasing items with a credit card, Credit Strong enables you to increase your savings while you establish credit.
To assist you in establishing credit, Credit Strong will submit your mortgage repayments to the three main credit bureaus. Additionally, you’ll have a substantial nest egg of cash saved waiting for you at the conclusion of your payback term!
Your credit rating (and history) are eventually built by your monthly payments: Your loan payment history is reported by Credit Strong to Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, the three major credit bureaus.
Your credit score and record will rise if the three bureaus can see and discern that you’re managing your repayments well (i.e., on time and in full).
You can choose to keep the money in the bank account or transfer it to another account once the loan has been paid in full and the locking has been removed. Credit Strong is also a division of Austin Capital Bank, a five-star rated bank in Austin, Texas.
Austin Capital Bank is an FDIC member, so when you open a Credit Strong account, you can rest assured that your money and personal information are safe and secure. Submit an online application 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and you’ll be approved in minutes.
When you apply for a Credit Strong account, there is no hard credit inquiry, so applying will not harm your credit. There is also no requirement for a credit score.
You can have no credit, bad credit, or very little history – none of these are deciding factors in account approval. You can also view the date of your next payment.
#3. Credit Builder Card
If you want to increase your credit rating and your buying power in the future, the best credit-building apps are the perfect place to start.
The best credit cards for building credit offer value-adding benefits like rewards points rewards, welcome offers, and low APRs on purchases, as well as regular reporting of payments to the credit agencies.
Find a credit-building card that suits your spending patterns and needs for managing payments if you want to get the most out of it. Credit cards with cash-back rewards might save you money by rewarding you for your frequent purchases.
You may pay off debt and reduce interest costs by using low-interest credit cards with flex-pay and minimum balance options.
#4. SeedFi
A financial services company situated in the US called SeedFi provides credit builder loans and savings through its website. The company wants to give the most disadvantaged people in society access to finance at a minimal cost.
After six months of completing on-time installments on all of your credit cards, you might see an increase of up to 41 points in your credit score!
According to a simulation using TransUnion data, customers who signed up for a SeedFi Credit Builder Plan between March 2023 and August 2023 would have seen an average boost of 41 points in their Vantage Score 3.0 credit score if they had also decided to add a Credit Builder Prime to their credit profile and paid all of their credit accounts on time for a period of six months.
Individual results could differ, and late fees can hurt your credit. The only disadvantage is that it may take 1-2 business days for the payment to settle, but don’t worry, as long as you make your payment before or on the due date, this delay will not affect you.
If you’ve reached the due date for your first payment or have made at least one payment, you can close your account early and keep the money you’ve paid toward the loan minus fees processed.
These banking services are provided by SeedFi’s bank partner, Cross River Bank, Member FDIC. Customers who sign up for Prime directly through SeedFi will also be required to open an “unlocked” savings account as part of the application process this is how you access the sweet savings you’ll build with Prime.
#5. Kikoff
Licensed lender Kikoff is dedicated to providing “equality in financial opportunity” by assisting borrowers in establishing credit. Two important credit bureaus, Equifax and Experian, receive information from the lender.
Borrowers with bad credit or no credit may be eligible for a $500 line of credit with Kikoff, which has no charge and a set monthly charge.
Making on-time transactions can also help you improve your credit because Kikoff reports transactions to two of the main credit bureaus. However, since you can only use a Kikoff credit line in the Kikoff store, be sure you’re interested in purchasing products from there before applying for one.
A fantastic place to start if you’re looking for a credit-building alternative is Kickoff. All payments are reported to Equifax and Experian, which could help you establish credit over time if you maintain a solid payment history. Your accounts should be as old as possible.
Because your Kikoff credit account does not expire, you can increase the age of your account. They set up a credit account for you and report it with a $750 credit limit after a quick application.
This is used to purchase Kikoff products and is only applicable to our credit-building products. Because Kikoff does not conduct credit checks to determine approval, you must be a U.S. citizen with a Social Security number.
Before you’re approved, Kikoff will run a series of fraud checks to verify your identity. The service is currently available in 48 states but not in Indiana or Delaware. Kikoff is available for download from the Apple App Store and Google Play.
#6. Ava
You can pay for entertainment services like Netflix* with the Ava Credit Builder Card while also reducing your credit utilization. There is no need for a credit check, and acceptance is assured.
Use it to establish a strong credit history by using it for your current monthly entertainment subscriptions, such as Netflix*. All 3 credit bureaus receive reports.
Your credit score can soar if you record your on-time payments and maintain a low credit card utilization rate. You may anticipate a favorable platform experience based on user reviews.
On the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, Ava has received ratings of 4.5 and 4.9 stars, respectively. Ava Closed Captions for Mac and Windows will always show captions on top of the video call, shared screen, or presentation, allowing you to follow along comfortably.
Concentrate on the meeting; we’ll take notes. With instant captions, no one is left out of the conversation, and you can collaborate effectively.
Subscriptions can be paid for with your high-limit Ava credit card. Your on-time payments are reported to credit bureaus. Improved credit score! Make 12 monthly payments of $21 to a locked Ava account.
They are responsible to the depts. After 12 months, you will receive your entire investment back. There are no fees or interest. With your improved credit score, they find the best deals for you through the best credit-building apps. You can save thousands of dollars on auto, personal, and home loans.
#7. BoomPay
Boom makes it simple to establish credit while paying rent. Join the hundreds of renters who already use BoomReport to record payments, previous payments, or both.
Boom reports to Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax, the three major credit agencies, so you can see the full effect of your highest monthly payment.
Rent can be paid through Boom at your convenience. Change your payment schedule, break up your rent into smaller amounts, and say goodbye to late fines.
Boom is a cutting-edge platform for rent payments that offers the fastest, simplest, and perhaps most rewarding way for you to pay your rent.
Boompay is a payment solution created with the most recent Laravel framework. Boompay solves money collection and money transfer issues.
It supports multiple currencies, transfers to anyone, money requests, payment links, storefront, recurring, invoice, appointment booking, expense & budgeting, API checkout, HTML checkout, Popup & redirect JS, currency swapping, payout to any bank account, compliance, and many other features.
Our system can be installed in 5 minutes with no technical knowledge. Developed an online rent payment platform aimed at making renting more convenient, flexible, and rewarding.
The platform of company allows users to pay their rent using credit or debit cards, bank transfers, and wallets, allowing them to pay rent on time and be rewarded.
#8. Grow Credit
Grow Credit acquired Mucker Labs as an investor and concluded its seed round with $2 million of total commitments. Mucker Labs offers credit lines for internet subscriptions like Spotify and Netflix to assist users to build out their credit scores.
Grow Credit can give consumers a loan to increase the scope of their subscription services using the Marqeta platform.
Grow provides financial assistance to its customers so they can compensate for their subscription services using the Mastercard payment network and Marqeta’s capabilities to limit payment access.
Users can raise their credit ratings up to 61 points in a 9-month period through Grow Credit for all those payments. An individual’s costs for items like vehicle leases, home mortgages, and better interest levels on all other credit cards can significantly increase when their credit score rises.
Grow Credit is a fantastic credit-building app. With no fees or interest, it could be one of the best options for free credit building. Credit building loans, such as those provided by Self Lender, are likely to assist users in establishing credit more quickly.
Payment for subscription services isn’t usually reflected in your credit reports, but here’s how the Grow Credit Mastercard works. It provides a traditional line of credit, allowing you to build credit by paying for qualifying monthly subscriptions such as eligible bills, TV, music, and other streaming services.
You pay off the bill in full each month, thereby building credit. Depending on your eligibility, the virtual card is linked to one of four membership plans.
#9. Extra
The very first bank card that builds credit and accrues points is Extra. No credit check. Employ your bank. If you want to increase your subscription such that it includes rewards points, you can earn at least 1% in points for regular expenditures like rideshares, coffee, and phone bills.
Redeem your points on anything in our rewards store, including Apple items. It is a card that reports purchases to the credit reporting agencies Equifax and Experian.
The corporation gives you the money whenever you swipe an Extra debit card. Extra withdraws its repayment through your bank account the following business day.
It sends a report to the credit bureaus about your payment history at the end of each month. Extra aids with the best credit-building apps by disclosing payment history.
You could be able to obtain cheaper loans and be approved again for best rewards credit cards if your credit is better. Extra is not a credit card; rather, it is a debit card that helps you build credit.
Extra totals all of your purchases and payments at the end of each month and reports them to credit bureaus to help you build credit.
When you upgrade your subscription to include rewards points, you can earn up to 1% points for everyday purchases like rideshares, coffee, and phone bills.
Spend your points in our rewards store on everything from Apple AirPods to cool products. Extra works with over 10,000 banks in the United States, allowing you to keep your money where you want while spending smarter.
According to Hellerstein, because all transactions on the card are backed by cash, 99% of applicants are approved.
#10. MoneyLion
A 5 private fintech business called MoneyLion provides customers with lending, financial advising, and investing services.
The target market for MoneyLion, which was founded in 2013, is the 70% of American customers who have, on average, just under $2,000 in savings.
A financial institution called MoneyLion provides credit-builder loans to its customers without running a credit check. Low-interest credit-builder loans are available from MoneyLion.
Depending on your requirements, you might be able to immediately access the upfront funds if you opt to have money deposited to your MoneyLion debit card or bank account.
However, the ACH process could take as long as three working days to deposit money into a third party’s checking account. Also keep in mind that there can be a delay until you can access your money, depending on your bank.
MoneyLion Plus is a subscription service for MoneyLion app users that provides them with several great benefits. They examine your spending habits to determine when to withdraw funds from your checking account.
They also offer personalized daily budgeting tips to help you spend less money. The MoneyLion Plus account also includes a managed investment account.
MoneyLion automatically invests your savings into a diversified portfolio of ETFs tailored to each of its subscribers’ financial needs and life stages.
This service has no management fees, and if you sign up through LendEDU, MoneyLion will deposit $10 into your investment account.
#11. Credit Karma
Credit Karma displays curated recommendations based on your credit profile. With the aid of their technology, you can check your chances of approval without having an impact on your results.
TransUnion and Equifax, two of the three main consumer credit bureaus, provide Credit Karma’s credit scores and reports directly.
Credit Karma should appropriately represent your credit card data as provided by those agencies in the credit ratings and statistics you see there.
Consumers can use all of Credit Karma’s services for nothing. The company’s free products and services are funded in part by revenue from targeted adverts for financial products.
When Credit Karma successfully refers customers to lenders, the latter compensates the business for its services.
#12. StellarFi
By allowing its customers the freedom to pay their debts on their own schedules while establishing credit and creating value, Stellar aims to break the cycle of poverty.
In order to quickly establish a good payment history for users, StellarFi is the first and only solution that sends all bill payments immediately to Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.
StellarFi helps with credit building by reporting to the key bureaus mentioned above in order to have an accurate score that counts to lenders, in contrast to other companies that report alternative data and produce varying credit scores.
More than 40,000 people have signed up for StellarFi’s queue and said they plan to use the service once it becomes available to raise their credit ratings. Members can use computers and mobile devices to use the StellarFi web app.
Later this year, mobile apps will become available. Rent, streaming subscriptions, utilities, and other bill payments are all eligible.
StellarFi has three membership tiers for users to choose from: a $4.99 monthly membership, a $9.99 membership, and a $19.99 membership.
Customers on the mid-tier can add an unlimited number of bills for StellarFi to pay on their behalf. According to the company, there are no other fees for users to be concerned about.
#13. Sable
Sable is an online banking platform that provides U.S. bank balances, debit cards, and credit cards, making this the only bank payment solution for foreigners in the country.
Without requiring an SSN or past U.S. credit history, newcomers to the country can establish a Sable account in less than five minutes and begin developing their credit history here from day one.
Both iOS and Android users can download the Sable app. For those who don’t have a credit history or who need to repair damaged credit, the Sable Secured Card makes the most sense.
Sable enables users to receive cash back while still establishing their credit. Via Sable’s affiliate, Coastal Community Bank, the monies in every Sable deposit account are FDIC-insured.
As a result, the money is secured for up to $250,000 The credit card also provides Zero Liability protection, which should shield users from liability for any illegal charges.
The Sable app cuts through the red tape to provide a complete online banking experience that includes a debit and credit card. Furthermore, you may not be required to provide a Social Security number in order to apply.
Keep all of your physical and virtual cards in one place when you sign up, so you always have access to your money when you need it.
Control your credit limit with the simple slider and keep your spending habits on track. With Sable’s Best Rate Guarantee, you can send money to over 55 countries instantly.
They will match any lower transfer rate you find. Recurring payments to your Sable credit card can be set up. Never fail to make a payment. With instant transaction notifications, you can keep your money safe. Nothing escapes their notice.
Eleggible’s Final Words
So, you now have a better understanding of some of the best ways to build credit. These best credit-building apps can help you improve your credit score if you’re patient and disciplined.
Other options include rent reporting services and secured credit cards. Finally, the best credit-building apps are on consistency and staying on track over time. You can quickly and easily improve your credit score by following these suggestions.
Kikoff is a comprehensive credit-building solution that we recommend. It is the best free credit score app for users who want to start building their credit history from scratch and improve their credit score quickly.
Thank you for reading, and good luck with your construction!
